News

Kontinental League concludes Board of Directors meetings

News

Kontinental League concludes Board of Directors meetings

The Kontinental League has announced the results from their recently held, quarterly Board of Directors meetings.

Among the decisions reached at the meeting is that the KHL has approved the establishment of a youth hockey league, starting in the 2009-10 season, in order to allow each team to grow and develop young prospects from the ages of 17-21 within their own system.

The total number of foreign players allowed on KHL club rosters for the 2009-10 season has been increased to six – only one of which can be a goaltender.

The Board of Directors formed a working group, under the leadership of KHL president and Gazprom magnate Alexander Medvedev, which will also include representatives from teams and the league, to interact with the KHL players’ union on the development of anti-crisis measures.

As well, the salary cap for KHL clubs has been set at 620 million rubles (US $17.3 million) and the minimum team salary pool is set at 200 million rubles (US $5.5 million). However, teams will be allowed to sign one premier player whose salary is exempt from impacting the cap much like the Designated Player Rule, or the ‘Beckham Rule,’ used by Major League Soccer in North America. The decision by the Board of Governors to adopt the addendum was made after a recommendation from the KHL clubs.

Much has been discussed lately about how the KHL has been under severe financial duress due to the current world economic climate, combined with the falling price of oil and the relative value decline of Russian currency. Some of the KHL’s players have claimed to have not received their full and complete salary, if any.

The KHL has also been notorious for their secretive nature about team finances and payrolls as well as individual salaries, so the BOG is clearly taking a step towards more transparency.